We hope it
Crape myrtles in winter, bare but getting ready to bloom beautifully, January 2010.
“Our destiny often looks like a fruit-tree in winter. Who would think from its pitiable aspect that those rigid boughs, those rough twigs could next spring again be green, bloom, and even bear fruit? Yet we hope it, we know it.”
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
After the difficulties of an especially harsh year, I am grateful for nature’s continual reminders of how things can be made new again. It’s really remarkable, the transformation of a tree from a bare, seemingly moribund skeleton to a profusion of greenery and flowers. I see it each year in the crape myrtles in our neighborhood, pictured above in winter and here, photographed in the summer.
I’ve learned from experience not to give up on straggly plant remains that appear to have been frozen. Sometimes flowering annuals spring back to life again as the weather warms (whether from roots or seeds, I’m never quite sure), or a neglected houseplant will gradually respond to more attention.
So it is with us, with our hopes and dreams. We can survive quite a lot, and hopefully come back stronger.
One year ago today
This post was first published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.
Defeat Despair 
I like the links you’ve included in your post, bringing us to seasons of these trees. 😃
Thanks Susan, I’m glad you liked it. The crape myrtles are one reason I am so reluctant to let go of the York home (they are everywhere throughout the neighborhood, including several in my own yard) but they are beginning to be planted at the NoVa home too, and I have two of them in front of the house.
Beautiful! Such uplifting and encouraging writing. Thanks Julia.
Thank you, Lydia. As always, I appreciate your presence here!